In April of 1990, the foundation of Lea Matthews Furniture and Interiors was begun when "Business Furniture Specialists," a successful Kimball Office furniture distributor, acquired "Wedel Interiors," a well established residential design group.  The idea of a design oriented retail furniture store continued to develop when we opened "The Design Center."  This opening offered independent designers access to our resources and gave them the opportunity to provide their clientele with name brand furniture at competitive prices.

As our resources continued to grow, we realized that the Tri-State area would welcome and support an up-scale and design-oriented furniture store.   We began this store with the "corner brands" of Drexel Heritage, Hickory Chair, Century, and Harden. We still represent these fine lines today, along with many others.

The next step was to develop a name for our store. Just for fun, I added the middle names of my two young children, Krista "Lea" and Ryan "Matthew" to the list of names being considered for the store.  It seemed like fate as the focus group, whose task it was to consider all the names suggested, continued to come back to "Lea Matthews."  In the end "Lea Matthews Furniture & Interiors" was decided upon.

Lea Matthews continues to be a locally owned single location store.  Our facility, near Evansville's primary retail area, houses Lea Matthews, Business Environments, The Design Center, The Drapery Workroom, our offices and warehouse space.  Along with our ownership group, I have grown up in Evansville and call it home.  My parents are both from the area, in fact my mother is Peggy Mitchell from the morning children's television program that aired locally for 27 years.

Lea Matthews is also very proud to be involved in the community and its charities.  We have hosted many fundraising benefits for groups such as The Santa Clothes Club, Habitat for Humanity and many others.

In addition to our residential division, we operate "Business Environments" where we provide office furniture, floor coverings and design services to clients such as Vectren and Toyota.

At Lea Matthews, we are continuing to expand our product offerings. In the coming months you will see broader price ranges and styles, as we strive to provide the Tri-State with design oriented furniture at affordable prices.

We'll keep growing, come see us. "We're Lea Matthews Furniture & Interiors . . .making your home your favorite place to be!"

Sincerely,
Kirk L. Mitchell, President